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Contributor License Agreement

The Apereo Foundation requires that all project contributors complete a Contributor License Agreement (CLA). The CLA clearly defines the terms under which intellectual property is being contributed, and affords the Foundation greater latitude to provide comprehensive governance over the project.

The Contributor License Agreement enables the Foundation to update the licensing of its projects, when necessary or desirable, while maintaining the provenance of the code, and the rights of Jasig, as well as those of the contributors and adopters of this code.

The CLA also makes it possible for the Foundation, at its corporate discretion, to defend the project, and/or its contributors and adopters, should the project become the subject of any claim or dispute, legal or otherwise.

In all cases, contributors retain full rights to use their original contributions for any other purpose, while providing the Foundation and its projects the right to distribute and extend their contributed work.

Organizations that have tasked employees to work on a Foundation project must also complete a Corporate Contributor License Agreement (CCLA) so intellectual property that may have been assigned as part of an employment agreement can still be properly contributed. Individuals still also need to submit an ICLA, even when their organizations has completed a CCLA. Individuals are responsible for making sure their organization has completed a CCLA if their contributions are owned by their employer.

When an individual or corporation donates existing software or documentation to a Foundation project, they need to execute a Software Grant License Agreement (SGLA) with the Foundation. This typically occurs as part of the Incubation process for taking on new projects. Corporations can also provide a concurrent grant as part of the CCLA itself.

Incubating projects with pre-existing codebases need to complete Contributor Agreements with all IP holders prior to formal acceptance as a full Foundation project.

Contributor License Agreements may be submitted to the Foundation in the following way:

Online

This is the preferred method. Simply complete the form at the links provided above, and submit them directly. If for some reason you cannot submit the form online, then fill out the form at that link, print it, sign it, and then submit via one of the other mechanisms below.